Berube, Holmgren ponder simple strategies on ice, trade market

Both coach Craig Berube, left, and general manager Paul Holmgren say they like the team the Flyers have as they get ready to return to the NHL season. The Flyers play San Jose Thursday. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

VOORHEES, N.J. — Coming out of an Olympic-sized layoff and still counting down the days to a busy stretch drive, Flyers coach Craig Berube said Monday his strategy will be as simple as he so often has portrayed it to be.

“I think they’ll have good jump having had that time off,” Berube said of his players, “but the timing’s going to be a little off. So for me, it’s about (playing) simple hockey; get pucks deep and limit your turnovers. That will be really important.”

It will model the no-nonsense system Berube incorporated after taking over for Peter Laviolette three games into what would turn out to be a terrible season start. Berube’s simple approach would eventually pay dividends, as the Flyers turned a 1-7 start into a playoff-worthy, 30-23-6 standing when the season shut down for the greater glory of pursuing Olympic medals halfway around the world.

Now with the conference standings packed tightly together, a stretch of 23 games in 46 days ahead and a March 5 trade deadline looming on the immediate landscape, Berube has laid out an agenda for what is a logical ultimate goal: make the playoffs.

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The goal may sound a bit dummied down, but it’s not that simple.

“If you make the playoffs,” Berube reasons, “you have an opportunity to win the Cup.”

As currently constituted, it is up to general manager Paul Holmgren to assess whether his team has an opportunity to achieve both facets of that goal. Holmgren can see in his turned-around hockey team a glimmer of championship hope, while his hand-picked relief coach can foresee a formula for making those hopes become reality: “Be a real good defensive hockey team,” Berube said. “I really believe that’s how you win.”

He meant the Flyers’ overall team defense posture, which while improved can often tend to sway the other way. And all the backchecking and support work the forwards can muster can’t completely cure the club’s inconsistencies when it comes to cleaning up the defensive zone and smoothing transitions through neutral ice.

Hence the simplified dump-with-haste system that is intended to cut down on defensive mistakes, but can also leave the attack lacking.

Nevertheless, Holmgren and Berube echoed each other Monday when asked to assess their team ahead of the trade deadline: “I like our team,” both said.

Holmgren took his assessment a step further, however, toward the blue line.

“I like the way our defense has played,” Holmgren said. “I know it’s not a sexy defense. Is there a Bobby Orr out there that we can get? Probably not. So our defense has been pretty good as a group, overall. Could we improve? I don’t know.”

That’s not to say Holmgren isn’t going to bother finding out. He said he “had some conversations with guys” during the Olympic break, when there was a moratorium on trade announcements that was lifted at a minute before midnight Sunday night.

“A lot of guys were over in Russia and were difficult to get ahold of,” Holmgren said of his executive trading colleagues. “I’m sure it’ll pick up for everybody now.”

Trade talks might pick up for the Flyers only if a difference maker on defense is available. That, of course, is the rarest of NHL personnel commodities. Supposedly available Jets defenseman/powerhouse Dustin Byfuglien would likely lead that pack, if only because Nashville’s Shea Weber currently isn’t available.

(Check back at the NHL Draft on that one).

Once below the stud level, however, Buffalo’s Christian Ehrhoff, Dallas’ Trevor Daley and the Islanders’ Andrew MacDonald all might be worthy conversation topics for Holmgren.

Because of the crowded house that is the Eastern Conference playoff chase, Holmgren suggested teams might be in more of a position to stick with what they’ve got down the stretch. The Flyers can justify to themselves that they’ve spent the past three or four months proving they have enough to grab a playoff chair.

They can also fairly assess their team as perhaps being one dynamic defenseman short of becoming a true Stanley Cup contender.

Either way, it’ll be interesting to see just how pat a hand Holmgren is willing to hold if trade discussions heat up through the week ahead.

“I’m sure there’s going to be some guys available,” Holmgren said, “but are there guys that can improve our team? That is the question.”

About the Author

Rob Parent is the Daily Times sports editor. He also covers the Flyers as well as writing an occasional column. Reach the author at rparent@delcotimes.com
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